Amazon’s Day 1 Turns into Amazon One

 The customer is dynamic not static according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  Regular readers of this blog have heard that refrain often.  Hanging in the main lobby at Amazons Seattle Headquarters is a big sign that reads Day One.  It’s the goal for the Day 1 sign to remind every employee to think as if ‘today’ is day one and you can do anything.

As it turns out that mission vision Day 1, may very well make grocery shopping, or any instore retail experience much faster and safer.  That is something that is top of mind today as the pandemic seems endless, and the cold / flu season is about to become center stage.

The new Amazon One, is a device that connects your amazon account and payment card to your palm for contactless shopping.  Ok, still wondering?  The device contains a scanner that records a user's palm 'signature' -- a unique identifier in humans. Users insert their payment card, hover their palm over the Amazon One, and after the Amazon One scans their palm, they are enrolled. The entire process is claimed to take less than a minute to complete and either an Amazon account or phone number can be used during signup.

Dilip Kumar, VP of physical retail and technology for Amazon Kumar says that once this process is complete, “all customers need to do to enter an Amazon Go store is raise their palm.” That’s right no need to take out your iPhone / smartphone and scan a QR code.

So, here is what is happening underneath.  Custom algorithms and machine learning have been implemented to build a map of our palms through the device. However, images are not stored locally; rather, Amazon says that prints are encrypted and sent to a "highly-secure area we custom-built in the cloud where we create your palm signature."

Human palms have been chosen as biometric authenticators as they require an "intentional gesture" to trigger, Amazon says, and palms are also more private as identities can't be ascertained just based on a handprint.  If you wanted, users can also remove their biometric data directly by accessing their Amazon account or via an online customer portal. 

Thinking big once again consider that Amazon could work in your store.  That’s right. Kumar continued "In most retail environments, Amazon One could become an alternate payment or loyalty card option with a device at the checkout counter next to a traditional point of sale system,". "We built Amazon One to offer [...] a quick, reliable, and secure way for people to identify themselves or authorize a transaction while moving seamlessly through their day."

Think about this Amazon One will eventually be rolled out to other stores, and in addition, the company intends to offer the technology to third-parties including Airports, Hotels, retailers, stadiums, and offices. I would not be surprised if a unit could be installed into your front door.

In Seattle two Amazon Go locations launched Amazon One on Sept. 29, shoppers will still have the option to enter the stores using the Amazon Go app, Amazon app or with associate assistance if paying in cash is preferred. How fast is your company evolving?  It just may come down to this.  If you can’t beat them join them.  Save your customer time.  Consumers are dynamic not static.  Don’t sit back and simply watch others reduce cost, improve service.  Jump in or get left behind.

Success does leave clues. One clue that time and time again continues to resurface is “the consumer is dynamic not static”.  Regular readers of this blog know that is the common refrain of Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  Our Grocerant Guru® can help your company 253-759-7869.  

Panera Partners with Apple Card for Success

Partnership can drive new electricity into brand messaging while creating consumer buzz according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  So, when Panera announced customers can now get unlimited 3% Daily Cash Back on Apple Card when they use the Apple Card with Apple Pay in the Panera app, on Panera.com or for at-register purchases in bakery-cafes nationwide, Johnson knew this partnership would drive incremental sales.

We must note that Panera is the only restaurant to offer 3% Daily Cash on Apple Card as it accelerates its focus on digital innovation in an effort to drive incremental customer relevance according to Johnson.

George Hanson, Panera’s Chief Digital Officer stated, “Panera aims for each guest experience to be simple, easy and fast,” … “More guests than ever are digitizing their wallets and opting for contactless payments as part of our new normal, and Panera wants to be part of that solution. As a brand committed to value, we are excited to be the first restaurant bringing our guests 3% Daily Cash on Apple Card when they purchase their favorite Panera soups, salads and sandwiches.”

Good deal fast!  Panera customers get a percentage of every Apple Card purchase back in Daily Cash. Daily Cash is added to customers’ Apple Cash card each day and can be used right away for purchases using Apple Pay, to put toward their Apple Card balance or send to friends and family in Messages.

Along with offering 3% Daily Cash on Apple Card when guests use Apple Card with Apple Pay, Panera offers a variety of off-premise ordering options for guests including Contactless Delivery, Curbside Pick -Up or Drive Thru. To best meet the needs of today’s customers, bakery-cafes nationwide are operating under a strict set of safety measures and protocols for the safety of guests and associates.

With over 45.2% of smartphone users in the U.S. using an Apple iPhone, Apple Pay creates a safe, more secure and private way to pay that helps customers avoid handing their payment card to someone else, touching physical buttons or exchanging cash, all while using the power of iPhone to protect every transaction. How are you edifying your brand and creating a platform of new electricity?

Driving new electricity into a legacy brand with a partnership is a good move and will accelerate the marketing messaging for all companies involved according to Johnson. How is your company positioning to grow your brand, the top, and bottom line?

Johnson stated “that in my minds-eye the new electricity must be very efficient for the supply chain and includes such things as fresh foods, online ordering, delivery, plant based foods, sampling, toy’s, cereal, developing brands,  grocerant positioning, fresh food messaging, autonomous delivery, cashier-less retail, plates, glasses, cash-less payments, digital hand-held marketing.

All food and beverage retailers to survive the next generation of retail must embrace the artificial intelligence revolution while simultaneously embracing fresh food and beverages that are portable, fresh, with differentiation that is familiar not different.  Does your retail path forward look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Why?

Do your food marketing ideations look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Interested in learning how our Grocerant Guru® can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization?  Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit: us on our social media sites by clicking one of the following links: Facebook,  LinkedIn, or Twitter

At Moe's Smaller, Faster, Fresher

Restaurant customer service relevance today requires that brands get fresher and faster according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. Fast casual restaurants need to evolve in the fresher, faster space as well and Moe’s Southwest Grill is doing it in-part by getting smaller. The self-order kiosk will accept cash, Apply Pay, and, in the case of Pittsburgh college students, university CC.

Moe’s Southwest Grill is set to become the first brand in the Mexican fast casual space to open a smaller-footprint, all-digital, kiosk-only location. Each store will come equipped with four self-order kiosks and will feature Moe’s new brand design. Johnson believes that this is a good move and will drive customer relevance top line sales and bottom line profits.

Get this, according to a recent study cited by Moe’s, 32 percent of millennials are pre-ordering meals with their mobile devices, which fits these two developing locations as they will be situated near both University of Pittsburgh and University of Virginia campuses.

Not only will the new units footprint be smaller, the self-order kiosk will accept cash, Apply Pay, and, in the case of Pittsburgh college students, university CC adding relevance and increasing speed of service.

Just in case our ‘grocerant guru’ (well past college age) were to happen inside one of the new units there will be one point-of-sale register will be available at the new location.  How are you reducing cost, adding relevance and driving top line sales and bottom line profits?

Foodservice Solutions® specializes in outsourced business development. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities or a new menu product segment and brand and menu integration strategy.  Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma WA is the global leader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant/ or twitter.com/grocerant

Fresh, Fast, Food Convenience Store Speedway Focus is on Speed

Success does leave clues and while Speedway has been known for it service, fresh, fast, flavorful, grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat food the roughly 3,000 unit chain continues to evolve adapting to the evolving food focused consumer according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Consumers are dynamic not static as smart phones out number land lines more and more consumers have migrated to from cash to digital payment options.  So, customers at Speedway convenience stores can now use Apple Pay at checkout elevating service once again.

Johnson stated that Speedway’s updated digital payments are outstanding as a hand held Food Marketing tool.  It is one key tools that are the undercurrents driving incremental brand adoption putting a new electricity in brand relevance for many younger consumers specifically Millennial's.

Today, new partnerships can drive sales in foodservice today as your brand is searching for the new electricity to help drive the brand forward. So, just what is your brands new electricity? According to Johnson, “Brand relevance is in part driven with innovation in new food products in combination with new avenues of distribution all of which are the platform for the new electricity.”

Johnson stated “that in my minds-eye the new electricity must be very efficient for the supply and includes such things as fresh foods, beer, developing brands, unique urban clothing, grocerant positioning, Fresh food messaging, autonomous delivery, cashier-less retail, plates, glasses, cash-less payments, digital hand-held marketing.

All retailers to survive the next generation of retail must embrace the artificial intelligence revolution while simultaneously embracing fresh food that is portable, fresh, with differentiation that is familiar not different. 

Digital payment is big and getting bigger as Apple Pay is rolling out now in Target stores and more than 7,000 Taco Bell and 2,200 Jack in the Box locations in the next few months.  Customers can also use Apple Pay today at more than 245 Hy-Vee stores in the Midwest.

With the addition of these national retailers, 74 of the top 100 merchants in the U.S. and 65 percent of all retail locations across the country will support Apple Pay, according to the company.   Is your company keeping pace with consumers?

Foodservice Solutions® specializes in outsourced business development. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities or a new menu product segment and brand and menu integration strategy.  Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma WA is the global leader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant/ or twitter.com/grocerant